Pavements around hotel subside
PAVEMENTS around a Girne hotel construction site are subsiding due to the erosion of yearold preparatory excavations after the project was left hanging due to bureaucratic delays over planning permissions.
Girne Municipality has expressed concern about the prospect of further land slippage in Karakız Sokak, behind the town’s Akçiçek Hospital, and says it is keeping a close eye on developments. The DKS Tourism and Hotels project was launched early in 2016 by director Ahmet Baştaş and partners as an “urban concept hotel” and forecast for completion within 18 months, with work to commence in August 2016.
Formerly the eyesore site of a derelict and unfinished holiday village, the project was hailed as a facelift for the area, which includes the Girne Amphitheatre, and proposed to revamp the seaside promenade with shops and cafés in collaboration with the municipality.
Others opposed the scheme which spans the protected area near Girne Castle and is tiered up to 10 storeys in a district of high traffic congestion near the hospital and government offices.
Mr Baştaş said this week: “We have obtained all the relevant permits including the permission of the Supreme Monuments Council. A full Environmental Impact Assessment report was completed and shared with the public. We have been waiting for the Town Planning Office to sign it off and do not understand the reason for such a delay.”
DKS press spokesman Hasan Erçakıca added that despite compliance with Environmental Impact Assessment regulations, the project had been blocked and that without permission to continue, work to shore up the excavations would prove too costly.
Tourism and Environment Minister Fikri Ataoğlu said: “Permission for demolition was given and excavations were made without planning permission. The project has not been submitted to me by the Town Planning Office because there are some missing documents.”
No information could be obtained from Town Planning.
Girne Municipality director Muharrem Arslan said: “The company obtained a demolition permit from the municipality but also completed the excavation as they needed to remove the old foundations.
“We are still waiting for the paperwork from the Town Planning Office so that we can issue the planning permit. If this is not forthcoming, they will have to fill it in or alter the project.”
He said the municipality would submit a written inquiry to the Town Planning Office regarding the delay, adding: “We will continue to inspect the site regarding safety.”